ENPULSION Signs ESA GSTP Contract for a New Generation of FEEP Thrusters

Building blocks of the Spacecraft Mobility Backbone

The €4.4 million project, co-funded by ESA through the contribution of the Austrian Ministry of Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure to the respective ESA programme, builds on a decade of developing and industrializing FEEP technology. It delivers a new generation of FEEP thrusters as standard building blocks and lays the groundwork for integrated propulsion, attitude control, and the Cortex integration layer.

Vienna, Austria — 14 October 2026

A contract signed among customers and partners

ENPULSION, the European leader in industrialized electric propulsion, has signed a development contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) under its General Support Technology Programme (GSTP). The contract was signed at ENPULSION's 10th-anniversary gala, in front of the customers and partners who have flown its thrusters over the past decade.

The project has a total volume of €4.4 million and is co-funded by ESA. It develops the next generation of ENPULSION's FEEP thrusters as building blocks of the company's next step, the Spacecraft Mobility Backbone, and lays the groundwork for the blocks that will join them.

A new generation of FEEP thrusters, built on a decade of experience

ENPULSION has spent ten years developing FEEP technology and industrializing it, taking it from the lab into series production and into orbit on satellites worldwide.

The new generation of thrusters, NANO R4 and MICRO R4, builds on that experience. Developed with ESA's technical expertise and fully qualified, they are designed from the start as standard building blocks: compatible by design, configurable within a defined range and qualified before a customer commits.

The goal is the same one that guides every ENPULSION product: mobility that is reliable, robust and easy to use, delivered from qualified designs so customers carry less risk and reach orbit faster.

Building blocks of the Spacecraft Mobility Backbone

Spacecraft mobility is becoming more complex. Missions increasingly combine electric and chemical propulsion, attitude control, navigation and software, and integrating them has become a bottleneck. ENPULSION's answer is the Spacecraft Mobility Backbone: modular, pre-qualified building blocks that fit together by design and are configured per mission, not re-engineered.

The new FEEP thrusters are the first building blocks developed under this approach. Alongside them, the project funds:

• Combined propulsion: system definition for configurations that pair electric and chemical propulsion.
• Integrated attitude control: a preliminary concept study for ADCS integrated with propulsion.
• Cortex: system definition and a breadboard of Cortex, the integration layer that standardizes how ENPULSION's building blocks connect, configure and operate together.

Customers who need a single thruster can still buy one on its own. Each thruster is also an entry point into a backbone that can grow with the mission.

The project, and ENPULSION's success over the past decade, also show what strategic public investment in space can achieve. The Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) direct Austria's investments, nationally and through ESA, into clearly defined technology fields. ENPULSION shows that this focus pays off: it helps turn Austrian companies into global champions.

Quotes

“Ten years ago we set out to make cutting-edge propulsion simple and reliable, and a decade of developing and industrializing FEEP has shown us how to do that at scale. With ESA's technical expertise behind us, we are turning that experience into a new generation of thrusters, built as the first building blocks of our Spacecraft Mobility Backbone. Our customers get mobility configured for their mission from pre-qualified building blocks, faster and at lower risk.”

“This contract is also a strong example of what Austria's investment in ESA achieves. Contributions made through ESA come back to Austrian companies and turn into competitiveness and jobs here at home.”

“Through this new GSTP contract, ESA is supporting the development of a next-generation in-orbit mobility capability that addresses a growing need in an increasingly dynamic space environment. We are pleased to support Enpulsion’s ambitious vision in this strategically important field, where hybrid propulsion solutions are becoming essential for the future of satellite operations. In close cooperation with the Austrian authorities, ESA is helping to share the development risks of this innovative technology, which promises higher thrust performance, greater robustness and reliability, and enhanced operational flexibility. This will expand the range of missions and spacecraft that can benefit from efficient and responsive in-space mobility, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and technological capabilities.”

About ENPULSION

ENPULSION, headquartered in Schwechat, Austria, delivers the Spacecraft Mobility Backbone: modular, pre-qualified building blocks for propulsion, attitude control and navigation, configured per mission and integrated through Cortex. Founded ten years ago, the company industrialized FEEP electric propulsion and today supplies flight-proven thrusters to satellite operators and manufacturers worldwide.

About ESA's General Support Technology Programme

The General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) is ESA's programme for taking promising technologies from the laboratory to flight readiness. It helps European industry turn developments into qualified, competitive products for the global market.

Media contact

ENPULSION Holding AG
Office Park 2, 1300 Wien-Flughafen, Austria
press@enpulsion.com